Wednesday, 04 June 2008

According to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs on Tuesday, an average of 3.34 people died in traffic accidents per every 10,000 cars in Korea in 2006, more than double the OECD average of 1.53. Korea's figure dropped slightly to 3.08 last year, but it still remains high.

What I don’t get is this obsession to compare things like road safety between OECD countries. What does it matter if you are a member of the OECD or not? I have been to many OECD countries and I can assure you that I have NEVER been afraid of walking on the pavement/sidewalk and have rarely been even remotely afraid of crossing at the traffic light when I am allowed to walk.

In Korea people get injured on the sidewalk and a red light does not mean you have to stop at all, especially if you are a huge lorry. I would love to see where Korea features on a bigger stage. What will it look like when they do worse than most of the non-OECD countries?

Just in case you don’t know that the OECD is let me inform you. It is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an international organisation of thirty countries that accept the principles of representative democracy and free market economy. How do your principals on politics and economics have any barring on road safety?

As a side note I find it interesting that the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs is one thing. Maritime affairs are surely big enough to be a single operation in a country almost completely surrounded by water. Maybe this is why the road safety is lagging? Also, what exactly does “Land Affairs” mean?